Perhaps if people recognize and admit that poor people are not poor by their own design, they may feel obligated to do something about it. I think it is difficult for the majority of people. Many are living “on the edge”. They work hard and are fortunate to have livable wages that keep them out of poverty but they still have to worry about finances. An illness or other unforeseen emergency could mean bankruptcy, the death of a partner/spouse catastrophic. It is easier and less distressing to blame the victims of circumstance and wash their hands of it, though we know that certainly doesn’t make the problems go away.
How do we account for poor Republicans? They seem to be abundant in southern states. Do they believe, like many of their party, that they themselves are to blame for their low income, that they are “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” as my mom says? How many of them rely on the benefit programs their own party is trying to dismantle, starve of funding, or privatize?
You have asked some great questions and the answers are intriguing. Political party allegiance is an interesting phenomenon indeed.
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